Introducing Jennifer

Hi! My name is Jennifer Church. I have lived in California my whole life. I grew up in Aliso Viejo, which is in Orange County. I went to a couple different elementary schools in the area then went to Aliso Viejo Middle School and Aliso Niguel High School. I love being in the water, probably because I grew up pretty close to the coast. I was on the high school swim team and in a sailing club. I attended college at CSU Chico where I studied liberal studies and child development.  When I graduated I moved down to San Diego, took a year off school and I am starting the credential program in the Fall. During my year off, I have been teaching swim lessons and working as a middle school summer program leader.

I don’t really consider myself very technologically savvy. I know the basics, most likely because many classes throughout my school career have involved research papers, power point presentations and excel projects. I tried to make a movie with pictures, sounds and some effects one time, but it was pretty basic. I had fun doing it, but didn’t necessarily know how to make it look more advanced. I can see how the computer and technology can be very beneficial in the classroom, however, I definitely think I need to learn more on how to do that.

The part of the mission statement from the School of Education that stood out to me was the part about being committed to diversity, educational equity and life-long learning. The Untied States is becoming more and more diverse so it is important to make all students feel included in the classroom. Everyone deserves a chance to learn. The life-long learning part stood out to me because it is important for children to get in to good learning/studying habits that can help them in the future. It is important for students to not just do what they have to, to get through class. I chose San Marcos because they have a good teaching program and the mission statement mentioned things that are important to me.